Storage model consideration

This topic lists the advantages and disadvantages of different storage models.

Table 1. Sharing nothing -vs- Shared storage
Storage models Advantages Disadvantages
Sharing Nothing model
  • Scaling computing and storage together by adding more nodes
  • High I/O bandwidth
  • Data locality for fast read
  • Additional network bandwidth from data protection against disk failure or node failure
  • Low storage efficiency from 3 replica (~33% storage utility)
Shared storage model
  • No additional network bandwidth from data protection against disk/node failure
  • 1 replica, high data efficiency
  • Scaling computing and storage separately/flexibly
  • No data locality
  • Limited IO bandwidth

Consider the following factors while selecting a storage model:

  • If your data is larger than 1 PB, select shared storage or IBM Storage Scale System. If you take sharing nothing framework, scanning such a huge data will take up a long time when protecting data against disk failure or node failure.
  • If the IBM Storage Scale cluster size is greater than 100 nodes, select shared storage or IBM Storage Scale System. More nodes, the high possibility of node being down, and more data restripe for protection.
  • If your data size is less than 500 TB but will be scaled to 1 PB+ in short term, select IBM Storage Scale sharing nothing model.
  • If your data size is between 500 TB and 1 PB, refer to Table 1 and your workloads for decision making.